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Appointment in Paris
ONE OF FINANCIAL TIMES AND THE TIMES BEST FICTION BOOKS OF 2025
'Blends a wholly convincing evocation of the period with a compelling narrative' The Times
'After their riveting debut in Vienna, Fox and Fry are back in compelling fashion to navigate their way through a shadowy world of espionage and murder. Danger and secrecy lurk in every page of this classy novel' ALEX GERLIS, author of EVERY SPY A TRAITOR
'An enthralling read' Financial Times
'Suspenseful, romantic, atmospheric and clever . . . Thynne's storytelling is hugely enjoyable escapism' AMANDA CRAIG, author of THE THREE GRACES
'Deeply researched but lightly told, this book had me on the edge of my seat. Absolutely cracking stuff' CLARE MULLEY, author of AGENT ZO
Following an acclaimed debut outing, Harry Fox, an MI5 Watcher, now suspended, and his associate Stella Fry are reunited during Britain's darkest hour in this gripping espionage thriller.
April 1940, and Britain is in turmoil. Chamberlain's government is faltering, and a German invasion may be only weeks away.
A body, wearing the uniform of a Luftwaffe captain, is found in the grounds of Trent Park - a stately home and now a prison to house high level German POWs. Trent Park's true purpose, however, is intelligence, gathered covertly from prisoners by secret listeners.
The morning after the discovery of the body, one of the listeners goes missing, along with a gun from the firing range. Horrified that this could blow the highly confidential operation wide open, the missing man must be tracked down.
Cue Harry Fox, a former MI5 Watcher, now suspended. He is desperate to assist the war effort but he's over the conscription age. Then his former boss gets in touch with a job for him, to track down the missing man. But, he stipulates, it must also involve Harry's former associate, Stella Fry.
Stella returns home from work in the blackout to find a crowd outside her flat. She is told that a young woman in the building has had a fatal accident. The dead woman is called Stella Fry. Outraged, Stella suspects that this is the work of her erstwhile friend, Harry Fox. But why on earth would he go to such lengths to contact her?
'Blends a wholly convincing evocation of the period with a compelling narrative' The Times
'After their riveting debut in Vienna, Fox and Fry are back in compelling fashion to navigate their way through a shadowy world of espionage and murder. Danger and secrecy lurk in every page of this classy novel' ALEX GERLIS, author of EVERY SPY A TRAITOR
'An enthralling read' Financial Times
'Suspenseful, romantic, atmospheric and clever . . . Thynne's storytelling is hugely enjoyable escapism' AMANDA CRAIG, author of THE THREE GRACES
'Deeply researched but lightly told, this book had me on the edge of my seat. Absolutely cracking stuff' CLARE MULLEY, author of AGENT ZO
Following an acclaimed debut outing, Harry Fox, an MI5 Watcher, now suspended, and his associate Stella Fry are reunited during Britain's darkest hour in this gripping espionage thriller.
April 1940, and Britain is in turmoil. Chamberlain's government is faltering, and a German invasion may be only weeks away.
A body, wearing the uniform of a Luftwaffe captain, is found in the grounds of Trent Park - a stately home and now a prison to house high level German POWs. Trent Park's true purpose, however, is intelligence, gathered covertly from prisoners by secret listeners.
The morning after the discovery of the body, one of the listeners goes missing, along with a gun from the firing range. Horrified that this could blow the highly confidential operation wide open, the missing man must be tracked down.
Cue Harry Fox, a former MI5 Watcher, now suspended. He is desperate to assist the war effort but he's over the conscription age. Then his former boss gets in touch with a job for him, to track down the missing man. But, he stipulates, it must also involve Harry's former associate, Stella Fry.
Stella returns home from work in the blackout to find a crowd outside her flat. She is told that a young woman in the building has had a fatal accident. The dead woman is called Stella Fry. Outraged, Stella suspects that this is the work of her erstwhile friend, Harry Fox. But why on earth would he go to such lengths to contact her?
396 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 4, 2025
31 people are currently reading
231 people want to read
About the author
Jane Thynne
24 books492 followersJane Thynne was born in Venezuela and educated in London. She graduated from Oxford University with a degree in English and joined the BBC as a journalist. She has also worked at The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Independent, as well as for numerous British magazines. She appears as a broadcaster on Radio 4 and Sky TV. She has also written WIDOWLAND under the pen name C.J. Carey.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
December 25, 2025
This is a sequel to Jane Thynne’s Midnight in Vienna, which I read in 2024 and enjoyed. That book was set just before the beginning of the Second World War and followed two characters – former MI5 spy, Harry Fox, and a gifted linguist, Stella Fry – who team up to look into the suspicious death of a famous crime writer. Appointment in Paris brings Harry and Stella together again to investigate a second murder, but this one is a separate mystery so if you haven’t read the first book yet, it’s not completely essential.
The novel opens in April 1940 at Trent Park, a country house in Cockfosters, north London. The house has been requistioned by the government as a facility for holding captured German pilots who have no idea that their rooms are bugged with microphones while a team of ‘listeners’ eavesdrop on their conversations. One night, a man in a Luftwaffe captain’s uniform is found dead in the grounds and the next morning, it’s discovered that one of the listeners has disappeared. Assuming that the missing man killed the German captain and then fled, the people in charge are desperate to catch him in case he gives away any of Trent Park’s secrets. This is where Harry and Stella come in…
Since the events of the previous novel, Stella Fry has settled into a new job making documentaries for the GPO Film Unit and is not very happy when she’s summoned by Maxwell Knight of MI5 who orders her to go and work at Trent Park as a listener. Stella is reluctant to go but her fluency in German and the fact that the suspected killer is an old friend from her university days means she’s the ideal choice to go undercover and try to find out what really happened. Meanwhile, Harry Fox has also been given orders by Knight – his mission is to stay in London and look for any information that could lead them to the missing man.
I enjoyed Appointment in Paris just as much as the first book, although I would have liked to have seen Harry and Stella working together more closely – they have very separate storylines in this book and their paths only cross occasionally. Stella’s story was the one that interested me most. I loved learning more about Trent Park and the work of the listeners, many of whom were German-Jewish refugees who had fled persecution and were assisting the British war effort. It was an emotionally difficult, often unpleasant job as the listeners would overhear all kinds of disturbing conversations between the German prisoners. As the title suggests, Stella’s investigations eventually take her to Paris, where she meets Noël Coward, who is running Britain’s Bureau of Propaganda. Although most of the characters in the book are fictional, inserting a real person here didn’t feel too forced or unnatural, especially as Coward had already been referenced several times via Stella’s actress friend, Evelyn, who is performing in one of his plays.
As she does in the previous novel, Thynne evokes the time period perfectly, describing the mood of the public during the eight months known as the Phoney War and how things abruptly changed in May 1940 with the invasion of France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, and the increased threat to Britain. It’s the little details that give the novel its colour – people hurrying home earlier than usual in the evenings because the blackout made it difficult to walk in the dark; newspapers shrinking in size because Scandinavian pulp supplies had been cut off; Parisian waiters taking payment before serving food because they are often interrupted by air raid sirens and the patrons forget to pay. The strong sense of time and place makes everything feel real and convincing.
Having enjoyed both books about Stella and Harry, I’m now hoping there’s going to be a third. The way this one ended definitely made me think that there will be – and as we’re still in 1940, there’s a lot more of the war to cover. I would also like to read some of her earlier novels, which also sound interesting.
The novel opens in April 1940 at Trent Park, a country house in Cockfosters, north London. The house has been requistioned by the government as a facility for holding captured German pilots who have no idea that their rooms are bugged with microphones while a team of ‘listeners’ eavesdrop on their conversations. One night, a man in a Luftwaffe captain’s uniform is found dead in the grounds and the next morning, it’s discovered that one of the listeners has disappeared. Assuming that the missing man killed the German captain and then fled, the people in charge are desperate to catch him in case he gives away any of Trent Park’s secrets. This is where Harry and Stella come in…
Since the events of the previous novel, Stella Fry has settled into a new job making documentaries for the GPO Film Unit and is not very happy when she’s summoned by Maxwell Knight of MI5 who orders her to go and work at Trent Park as a listener. Stella is reluctant to go but her fluency in German and the fact that the suspected killer is an old friend from her university days means she’s the ideal choice to go undercover and try to find out what really happened. Meanwhile, Harry Fox has also been given orders by Knight – his mission is to stay in London and look for any information that could lead them to the missing man.
I enjoyed Appointment in Paris just as much as the first book, although I would have liked to have seen Harry and Stella working together more closely – they have very separate storylines in this book and their paths only cross occasionally. Stella’s story was the one that interested me most. I loved learning more about Trent Park and the work of the listeners, many of whom were German-Jewish refugees who had fled persecution and were assisting the British war effort. It was an emotionally difficult, often unpleasant job as the listeners would overhear all kinds of disturbing conversations between the German prisoners. As the title suggests, Stella’s investigations eventually take her to Paris, where she meets Noël Coward, who is running Britain’s Bureau of Propaganda. Although most of the characters in the book are fictional, inserting a real person here didn’t feel too forced or unnatural, especially as Coward had already been referenced several times via Stella’s actress friend, Evelyn, who is performing in one of his plays.
As she does in the previous novel, Thynne evokes the time period perfectly, describing the mood of the public during the eight months known as the Phoney War and how things abruptly changed in May 1940 with the invasion of France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, and the increased threat to Britain. It’s the little details that give the novel its colour – people hurrying home earlier than usual in the evenings because the blackout made it difficult to walk in the dark; newspapers shrinking in size because Scandinavian pulp supplies had been cut off; Parisian waiters taking payment before serving food because they are often interrupted by air raid sirens and the patrons forget to pay. The strong sense of time and place makes everything feel real and convincing.
Having enjoyed both books about Stella and Harry, I’m now hoping there’s going to be a third. The way this one ended definitely made me think that there will be – and as we’re still in 1940, there’s a lot more of the war to cover. I would also like to read some of her earlier novels, which also sound interesting.
August 28, 2025
One could suggest that Jane Thynne has taken on the Cormoran Strike/Robin Ellacott vibe of Robert Galbraith fame and time-travelled back to the Second World War but that would do this new series a great disservice. Not only is the reader given plenty of meticulously researched important social and political details of the time, some of which may come as a surprise, but the novels are also extremely well-paced and very atmospheric. It’s the summer of 1940; Britain is about to experience the Blitz and London is tensely waiting for the inevitable.
Private investigators Harry Fox and Stella Fry are very believable. As they work to find out who has shot a German prisoner of war without revealing the ingenious bugging systems that allow the British to gain valuable intelligence on German matters of war, there's clearly unspoken mutual attraction as well as irritation with and frustration over each other’s behaviour. Their working relationship doesn’t stop other liaisons which move the plot on very effectively. If you like characters who can be both feisty and laconic, you will enjoy Fox and Fry’s company. Coupled with the very interesting historical details and vivid settings, they make ‘Appointment in Paris’ a very enjoyable read. I recommend reading the first in the series, ‘Midnight in Vienna’, before beginning this novel and I’m looking forward to seeing where the author takes the courageous pair next!
My thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.
Private investigators Harry Fox and Stella Fry are very believable. As they work to find out who has shot a German prisoner of war without revealing the ingenious bugging systems that allow the British to gain valuable intelligence on German matters of war, there's clearly unspoken mutual attraction as well as irritation with and frustration over each other’s behaviour. Their working relationship doesn’t stop other liaisons which move the plot on very effectively. If you like characters who can be both feisty and laconic, you will enjoy Fox and Fry’s company. Coupled with the very interesting historical details and vivid settings, they make ‘Appointment in Paris’ a very enjoyable read. I recommend reading the first in the series, ‘Midnight in Vienna’, before beginning this novel and I’m looking forward to seeing where the author takes the courageous pair next!
My thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.
September 4, 2025
Firstly I am absolutely obsessed with the cover of this book!
This was my first read by Jane Thynne and it didnt disappoint
It’s not just a romance but also a story of mystery and survival. Readers who enjoy history with a strong emotional thread will find it engaging.
Easy summary:
Romantic, emotional, and historical.
Mix of mystery and family secrets.
Beautiful Paris setting.
Good for fans of love stories set in wartime.
thank you netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to ARC read
This was my first read by Jane Thynne and it didnt disappoint
It’s not just a romance but also a story of mystery and survival. Readers who enjoy history with a strong emotional thread will find it engaging.
Easy summary:
Romantic, emotional, and historical.
Mix of mystery and family secrets.
Beautiful Paris setting.
Good for fans of love stories set in wartime.
thank you netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to ARC read
September 8, 2025
London, spring 1940. The ailing Neville Chamberlain is still Prime Minister, Hitler has rampaged through Poland and Czechoslovakia, and Winston Churchill is First Lord of The Admiralty, licking his wounds after his attempt to thwart the Nazi occupation of Norway.
Former intelligence agent Stella Fry is working in a quiet backwater of the war effort, a documentary film unit. She is headhunted by MI5 after a German prisoner of war named Fassbinder is murdered in a high security interrogation unit. Why Stella? The main suspect in the killing is Robert Handel, Stella's erstwhile colleague at Oxford. Also working "off the books" for MI5 is a rumpled but effective former colleague of Stella's, Harry Fox, now scratching a living as a private investigator. He and Stella's earlier encounter can be found in Midnight in Vienna (2024).
The powers that be believe that Handel has fled to Paris, where his sister runs a bookshop. Stella is despatched to find him, and this allows Jane Thynne to pen a few evocative pages describing the French capital on the brink of a national disaster, but still behaving with its customary panache and insouciance. After a brief meeting with a certain Noel Coward, secretly working for British Intelligence, Stella, rather than finding Handel, is found by him, as he is now deeply embedded with the fledgling French resistance movement, already organising itself for the inevitable arrival of the Nazis. He denies any responsibility for Fassbinder's murder and, after a passionate evening in Handel's room, the couple awake to the news that Hitler has invaded Belgium, Luxemburg and Holland. Handel bundles Stella onto a crowded train bound for the Channel, and amid crowds of terrified refugees, she eventually arrives in Dover.
Meanwhile, Harry Fox has become entangled with a classic femme fatale who calls herself Lisselotte Edelman. It could be said that Harry is not a perfect gentleman for, while Lisselotte is gently snoring in his bed after a passionate encounter, he investigates her handbag, where, beneath the usual feminine fripperies, he finds a handgun, an Enfield No.3 MK1 .38 calibre, the same gun that shot Harry is also a veteran of The Great War, and sometimes his dreams are shot through with the horrors that his eighteen-year-old self endured at Mametz Wood.
I must declare an interest here. I am a sucker for novels set during WW2 and, all the more so if they are grounded in London. I 'missed' the war by a considerable distance, being born in 1947, but my childhood was shot through with reminders. I recall playing with old ration books and remember my father being laid low with occasional bouts of the malaria he had contracted in North Africa. In my teens I admired the old soldiers who had survived the Great War. They are all long since gone, as are all but a few of the men of my father's generation. Jane Thynne captures the uncertain times of the early 1940s with uncanny accuracy, and she can stand shoulder to shoulder with fellow contemporary writers like John Lawton who have brought those troubled times so vividly to life.
Jane Thynne weaves a complex web of assumed identities, the dark arts of espionage and complex international politics, in particular the ambiguous relationship between Britain and the United States. She still finds space for some Brief Encounter-style romance, and some delightful cultural references, my favourite being the reference to a quiet Cotswold railway station (think a poet who died at Arras in 1917) Appointment in Paris is a delightful and complex journey into a fascinating period of our history. It was published by Quercus on 4th September.
Former intelligence agent Stella Fry is working in a quiet backwater of the war effort, a documentary film unit. She is headhunted by MI5 after a German prisoner of war named Fassbinder is murdered in a high security interrogation unit. Why Stella? The main suspect in the killing is Robert Handel, Stella's erstwhile colleague at Oxford. Also working "off the books" for MI5 is a rumpled but effective former colleague of Stella's, Harry Fox, now scratching a living as a private investigator. He and Stella's earlier encounter can be found in Midnight in Vienna (2024).
The powers that be believe that Handel has fled to Paris, where his sister runs a bookshop. Stella is despatched to find him, and this allows Jane Thynne to pen a few evocative pages describing the French capital on the brink of a national disaster, but still behaving with its customary panache and insouciance. After a brief meeting with a certain Noel Coward, secretly working for British Intelligence, Stella, rather than finding Handel, is found by him, as he is now deeply embedded with the fledgling French resistance movement, already organising itself for the inevitable arrival of the Nazis. He denies any responsibility for Fassbinder's murder and, after a passionate evening in Handel's room, the couple awake to the news that Hitler has invaded Belgium, Luxemburg and Holland. Handel bundles Stella onto a crowded train bound for the Channel, and amid crowds of terrified refugees, she eventually arrives in Dover.
Meanwhile, Harry Fox has become entangled with a classic femme fatale who calls herself Lisselotte Edelman. It could be said that Harry is not a perfect gentleman for, while Lisselotte is gently snoring in his bed after a passionate encounter, he investigates her handbag, where, beneath the usual feminine fripperies, he finds a handgun, an Enfield No.3 MK1 .38 calibre, the same gun that shot Harry is also a veteran of The Great War, and sometimes his dreams are shot through with the horrors that his eighteen-year-old self endured at Mametz Wood.
I must declare an interest here. I am a sucker for novels set during WW2 and, all the more so if they are grounded in London. I 'missed' the war by a considerable distance, being born in 1947, but my childhood was shot through with reminders. I recall playing with old ration books and remember my father being laid low with occasional bouts of the malaria he had contracted in North Africa. In my teens I admired the old soldiers who had survived the Great War. They are all long since gone, as are all but a few of the men of my father's generation. Jane Thynne captures the uncertain times of the early 1940s with uncanny accuracy, and she can stand shoulder to shoulder with fellow contemporary writers like John Lawton who have brought those troubled times so vividly to life.
Jane Thynne weaves a complex web of assumed identities, the dark arts of espionage and complex international politics, in particular the ambiguous relationship between Britain and the United States. She still finds space for some Brief Encounter-style romance, and some delightful cultural references, my favourite being the reference to a quiet Cotswold railway station (think a poet who died at Arras in 1917) Appointment in Paris is a delightful and complex journey into a fascinating period of our history. It was published by Quercus on 4th September.
August 2, 2025
Fans of Harry and Stella will love this new adventure.
"Appointment in Paris" opens more than a year after the events of "Midnight in Vienna". It's Spring 1940 and Harry and Stella, their job done, have gone their separate ways. Harry is still suspended from his MI5 job, and is surviving as a private detective, and Stella is working for the GPO film unit. Britain is living in fear of Germany invading, and is doing all it can to gather information on when it will happen. High-ranking German POW's are being held in Trent Park - a stately home now used as a prison and where intelligence is gathered covertly from prisoners by secret listeners. When one of the POWs is found murdered, and a listener goes missing, the fear is that vital information is about to be passed to Germany. So Maxwell Knight, Harry's former boss, recruits Harry to track down the listener, while insisting Stella also do her bit by investigating the murder.
And so, Stella, through some devious subterfuge by Harry, is drawn into the case - one which rapidly develops into a more sinister and complex mystery. She goes undercover at Trent Park and soon realises it houses more than just prisoners of war, and that she has a personal connection to at least one person there. At the same time, Harry slowly closes in on the missing listener. Despite the title of the book, much of the story takes places in London, but her investigations do take Stella to Paris, when it becomes clear the murder and the missing man cases are connected. Paris just before the German invasion is nicely depicted while Harry's own trails around London are also wonderfully painted, with black-outs, pubs and bohemian artists.
Trent Park was a real place, and the details of how it operated, are fascinating - the latest technology was used to listen in on conversations, and native German-speaking listeners were used to transcribe those conversations, many of which were graphic and highly disturbing. The effect on the listeners, including Stella, makes for harrowing reading.
Fans of the first book will be happy to learn that familiar faces are here - Stella's actress friend Evelyn, and her brother Tom and Maxwell Knight all have a part to play. We also learn a bit more about Stella and Harry. He is now 41, and too old to be called up, so his frustration and guilt about not doing his bit are clear. His skills as a detective, however shine through. Stella, likewise, is unsure how best she can play her part but her feisty and determined character makes her a formidable opponent. Further adventures of the pair would be interesting.
Highly recommended for fans of Alex Gerlis, Deborah Swift and SJ Parris.
"Appointment in Paris" opens more than a year after the events of "Midnight in Vienna". It's Spring 1940 and Harry and Stella, their job done, have gone their separate ways. Harry is still suspended from his MI5 job, and is surviving as a private detective, and Stella is working for the GPO film unit. Britain is living in fear of Germany invading, and is doing all it can to gather information on when it will happen. High-ranking German POW's are being held in Trent Park - a stately home now used as a prison and where intelligence is gathered covertly from prisoners by secret listeners. When one of the POWs is found murdered, and a listener goes missing, the fear is that vital information is about to be passed to Germany. So Maxwell Knight, Harry's former boss, recruits Harry to track down the listener, while insisting Stella also do her bit by investigating the murder.
And so, Stella, through some devious subterfuge by Harry, is drawn into the case - one which rapidly develops into a more sinister and complex mystery. She goes undercover at Trent Park and soon realises it houses more than just prisoners of war, and that she has a personal connection to at least one person there. At the same time, Harry slowly closes in on the missing listener. Despite the title of the book, much of the story takes places in London, but her investigations do take Stella to Paris, when it becomes clear the murder and the missing man cases are connected. Paris just before the German invasion is nicely depicted while Harry's own trails around London are also wonderfully painted, with black-outs, pubs and bohemian artists.
Trent Park was a real place, and the details of how it operated, are fascinating - the latest technology was used to listen in on conversations, and native German-speaking listeners were used to transcribe those conversations, many of which were graphic and highly disturbing. The effect on the listeners, including Stella, makes for harrowing reading.
Fans of the first book will be happy to learn that familiar faces are here - Stella's actress friend Evelyn, and her brother Tom and Maxwell Knight all have a part to play. We also learn a bit more about Stella and Harry. He is now 41, and too old to be called up, so his frustration and guilt about not doing his bit are clear. His skills as a detective, however shine through. Stella, likewise, is unsure how best she can play her part but her feisty and determined character makes her a formidable opponent. Further adventures of the pair would be interesting.
Highly recommended for fans of Alex Gerlis, Deborah Swift and SJ Parris.
September 4, 2025
It is May 1940 and the war is drawing ever closer to Great Britian. Stella Kay is now working in the film industry and Harry Fox as a private investigator but they are drawn back together to solve the murder of a German prisoner held in Trent Park, a stately home converted to house German prisoners of war and secretly record their conversations to gather intelligence. The highly secret nature of their work has them investigating different areas, with Stella’s fluency in German involving her in the spying directly and Harry searching London for leads, but their paths cross and their joint efforts lead to the answer.
I really enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down. Both of the main characters are very well drawn, likeable, capable and believable, and their relationship is interesting but secondary to the plot. I also really enjoyed the occasional appearance of real life figures such as Noel Coward, Joe Kennedy and Agatha Christie who were famous at the time and pass through the story very well.
Thrillers set in World War II are hardly unusual but few that I have read have managed to evoke the atmosphere quite so well. It’s easy to view it through the lens of what we know came to happen but Jane Thynne manages to portray very well the spiralling fear and uncertainty of the population as the Phoney War comes to an end and Hitler’s Blitzkrieg stretches across Europe. Events are speeding up and war is becoming inevitable, the Chamberlain government is faltering and our Allies are under threat – all of this is set as background and the obviously thorough research builds a very real world without ever overwhelming the narrative.
I haven’t yet read the first of this series, Midnight in Vienna, but I will definitely be going back to do so and look forward to more to come.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review. This has been posted to Waterstones, Goodreads and Amazon.
I really enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down. Both of the main characters are very well drawn, likeable, capable and believable, and their relationship is interesting but secondary to the plot. I also really enjoyed the occasional appearance of real life figures such as Noel Coward, Joe Kennedy and Agatha Christie who were famous at the time and pass through the story very well.
Thrillers set in World War II are hardly unusual but few that I have read have managed to evoke the atmosphere quite so well. It’s easy to view it through the lens of what we know came to happen but Jane Thynne manages to portray very well the spiralling fear and uncertainty of the population as the Phoney War comes to an end and Hitler’s Blitzkrieg stretches across Europe. Events are speeding up and war is becoming inevitable, the Chamberlain government is faltering and our Allies are under threat – all of this is set as background and the obviously thorough research builds a very real world without ever overwhelming the narrative.
I haven’t yet read the first of this series, Midnight in Vienna, but I will definitely be going back to do so and look forward to more to come.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review. This has been posted to Waterstones, Goodreads and Amazon.
September 17, 2025
I was on the edge of my seat from the first page of Appointment in Paris - Jane Thynne certainly knows how to set the tone!
This is the second book in The Harry Fox/ Stella Fry series (well, I hope it’s going to be a series!), and set a year after the first book, Midnight in Vienna. War looms ever closer: Poland has fallen, Amsterdam, Belgium and France are next on Hitler’s occupation list.
When a German officer is found dead at a top secret POW camp in a former stately home, and one of the German Listeners goes missing, the worry is that vital information will fall into the wrong hands. Enter Maxwell Knight, Harry’s former MI5 handler. He wants Harry to find the missing listener, and hands the job of the murder investigation over to Stella.
Stella goes undercover as a listener at Trent Park - her fluent German once again proving its worth. SHe’s a determined, astute, intelligent woman.
I was a little puzzled as I read, as to why the title is “Appointment in Paris”, because most of this book takes place between London and Trent Park. You just need to be patient, though. And then you’ll be back on the edge of your seat.
The attention to detail is what really makes this book: the preparations for war, the blackout, the fear of the refugees, the jazz clubs. Every now and again, a real person form that time is mentioned (Agatha Christie and Noël Coward).
I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t read the first in this series - YET!! But I WILL be! I really like the characters of Harry and Stella, and I’d love to experience their war with them. So I’ll be watching out for the next instalment!
Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of the book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
This is the second book in The Harry Fox/ Stella Fry series (well, I hope it’s going to be a series!), and set a year after the first book, Midnight in Vienna. War looms ever closer: Poland has fallen, Amsterdam, Belgium and France are next on Hitler’s occupation list.
When a German officer is found dead at a top secret POW camp in a former stately home, and one of the German Listeners goes missing, the worry is that vital information will fall into the wrong hands. Enter Maxwell Knight, Harry’s former MI5 handler. He wants Harry to find the missing listener, and hands the job of the murder investigation over to Stella.
Stella goes undercover as a listener at Trent Park - her fluent German once again proving its worth. SHe’s a determined, astute, intelligent woman.
I was a little puzzled as I read, as to why the title is “Appointment in Paris”, because most of this book takes place between London and Trent Park. You just need to be patient, though. And then you’ll be back on the edge of your seat.
The attention to detail is what really makes this book: the preparations for war, the blackout, the fear of the refugees, the jazz clubs. Every now and again, a real person form that time is mentioned (Agatha Christie and Noël Coward).
I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t read the first in this series - YET!! But I WILL be! I really like the characters of Harry and Stella, and I’d love to experience their war with them. So I’ll be watching out for the next instalment!
Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of the book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
October 19, 2025
MI5 agents Harry Fox and Stella Fry return in this taut, atmospheric thriller set against the backdrop of Nazi-occupied Paris. As tensions rise and loyalties blur, the duo must navigate danger, deception, and the ghosts of their past.
From the first page, Thynne immerses us in a world of shadowy intrigue and emotional complexity. The pacing is brisk, the stakes are high, and the setting, Paris under occupation, is rendered with chilling detail.
There’s a lot to love in this novel, here are some of the parts I appreciated more
• The atmosphereis Richly detailed and evocative, Paris feels like a character in its own right.
• The character Stella and Harry’s relationship adds emotional depth without slowing the plot.
• Historical background Seamlessly woven into the narrative, never heavy-handed.
This is a mix of classic and psychological spy story, romance and historical fiction. I thoroughly enjoyed but it could not be the best for anyone who is in action-packed stories.
A suspenseful, romantic, and intelligent read for fans of historical thrillers with emotional resonance, a story perfect for readers who enjoy character-driven spy fiction with a literary edge.
I loved it and thanks Quercus for this digital copy, all opinions are mine
From the first page, Thynne immerses us in a world of shadowy intrigue and emotional complexity. The pacing is brisk, the stakes are high, and the setting, Paris under occupation, is rendered with chilling detail.
There’s a lot to love in this novel, here are some of the parts I appreciated more
• The atmosphereis Richly detailed and evocative, Paris feels like a character in its own right.
• The character Stella and Harry’s relationship adds emotional depth without slowing the plot.
• Historical background Seamlessly woven into the narrative, never heavy-handed.
This is a mix of classic and psychological spy story, romance and historical fiction. I thoroughly enjoyed but it could not be the best for anyone who is in action-packed stories.
A suspenseful, romantic, and intelligent read for fans of historical thrillers with emotional resonance, a story perfect for readers who enjoy character-driven spy fiction with a literary edge.
I loved it and thanks Quercus for this digital copy, all opinions are mine
August 25, 2025
A prison for high ranking German prisoners of war, Trent Park was also a key place for gathering information with bugging devices in every room and in the basement every conversation was monitored and transcribed by a team of listeners in the hope that information might be gained that could assist the allies
When one of the listening staff goes missing on the same night a Luftwaffe pilot is discovered dead in the grounds former MI5 agent turned private eye Harry Fox and Stella Fry could both prove useful.
Appointment in Paris blends espionage, romance, and intrigue as the war effort continues and Harry Fox and Stella Fry return for a second time. I loved the characters, I loved the drama and I loved the history. The storyline flowed and after the ending I'm really hoping there's more to come.
My thanks to Quercus Books and NetGalley for the early read, all opinions expressed are my own.
When one of the listening staff goes missing on the same night a Luftwaffe pilot is discovered dead in the grounds former MI5 agent turned private eye Harry Fox and Stella Fry could both prove useful.
Appointment in Paris blends espionage, romance, and intrigue as the war effort continues and Harry Fox and Stella Fry return for a second time. I loved the characters, I loved the drama and I loved the history. The storyline flowed and after the ending I'm really hoping there's more to come.
My thanks to Quercus Books and NetGalley for the early read, all opinions expressed are my own.
August 21, 2025
This was a really good spy thriller covering an oft neglected part of Ww2. Set in London and Paris during the phony war when there were quite a few refugees from Germany and Eastern Europe, a murder takes place at an officers PoW camp in north London. The chief suspect absconds and Stella Fry and Harry Fox, budding secret service agents investigate. What follows is a twisty tale before the murderer is found and the security at this detention centre is preserved. The book builds up the mounting tension as a German invasion is expected and focuses on the growing phenomenon of women being used in espionage. They were often better listeners and less was expected of a woman so it was easier to hide in plain sight. The ending gave a promise of further investigations by this pair as the war progressed.
September 11, 2025
As Britain fears a German offensive, London is starting to prepare for air raids with a blackout. Harry Fox is asked to create a 'disappearance' for Stella as she is to be recruited to a secretive listening station in a POW camp in Essex. In fact, this is a murder investigation as a German officer is dead and a British agent has gone missing. Stella's work leads her to Paris and into the arms of a former friend. However the solution to the murder lies much closer to home and within Harry's purview.
This is a great little read. It's thrilling enough to be very engaging but light enough so that this reader skipped through it in two evenings. I really liked the setting in 1940 withe the phoney war and then the urgency after Hitler's invasion of the low countries. Real-life characters are integrated seamlessly and the whole just works really well
This is a great little read. It's thrilling enough to be very engaging but light enough so that this reader skipped through it in two evenings. I really liked the setting in 1940 withe the phoney war and then the urgency after Hitler's invasion of the low countries. Real-life characters are integrated seamlessly and the whole just works really well
September 2, 2025
I love Jane Thynne and this doesn’t disappoint.
Stella Fry and Harry Fox return following their adventure in Midnight in Vienna. This time they end up working together again to find a murderer who has absconded from a top secret facility at the start of World War II. The resolution to the mystery surprised me, Stella is a compelling heroine, and the novel has the creeping, tense atmosphere of the start of the war when there were fears Britain would be invaded shortly. I definitely hope there’s more books in this series.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Stella Fry and Harry Fox return following their adventure in Midnight in Vienna. This time they end up working together again to find a murderer who has absconded from a top secret facility at the start of World War II. The resolution to the mystery surprised me, Stella is a compelling heroine, and the novel has the creeping, tense atmosphere of the start of the war when there were fears Britain would be invaded shortly. I definitely hope there’s more books in this series.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
September 21, 2025
Another outing for Stella Fry and Harry Fox who are very credible characters. Jane Thynne writes well and conjures up the atmosphere of World War 2 very effectively although I thought that the plot was a bit creaky in places. She has clearly done substantial research on the period. I would have given this 4 stars but the last few pages were just a bit too clever-clever - throwing in Agatha Christie and the Isokon building seemed a bit unnecessary and the knowing wink to Adlestrop was really over the top. But I look forward to the next book. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.
September 23, 2025
A great book that I bought on a whim as it was newly published and sitting by the till. I had never heard of Jane Thynne but I worked for years where the book is set - decades after when the book was set and in a completely different job from those done by the characters in the book! Meticulously researched, very well plotted, an addictive page turner with well drawn, sympathetic characters, even romance featured. I will definitely be reading more books written by Jane Thynne!
January 24, 2026
Would have given this book 3.75. Enjoyed and interesting about Trent Park in the war which I knew nothing about. Not sure how memorable the book was but I would read another of this series and could develop into something more interesting. Felt the last 15 pages of book were not needed once we knew the story.
November 4, 2025
Very light on the espionage. The relationship between Harry and Stella is unrealistic.
Heavy on atmosphere and historical fact; these, ironically, are the book's strong point.
People drive Lamborghinis in 1940. At least they don't have iPhones or wear Apple Watches.
Heavy on atmosphere and historical fact; these, ironically, are the book's strong point.
People drive Lamborghinis in 1940. At least they don't have iPhones or wear Apple Watches.
December 12, 2025
A fairly low key told tale but thoroughly enjoyable. No doubt more true to life than many.
January 12, 2026
Solid, would read more of this series
January 20, 2026
A reasonable read. However, the novels are beginning to become somewhat formulaic.
January 24, 2026
Great story and characters.
January 1, 2026
An interesting historical mystery set in1940 full of period detail very absorbing . I strongly recommend this
December 29, 2025
I hugely enjoyed Midnight in Vienna, which is the first book in this series and introduced the resourceful Stella Fry.
This book starts shortly after the onset of the Second World War, during the period now referred to as ‘the Phoney War’, when the British people were waiting for hostilities to begin. Stella is working for a unit making public information films. This is not rewarding work, but it keeps body and soul together. However, she soon finds herself drawn back into her clandestine intelligence work, being sent to support a highly secret operation in at a commandeered stately house in Hertfordshire.
As always with Jane Thynne’s books, the story is well plotted, and the characters highly plausible. I don’t know why Ms Thynne’s books aren’t better known.
This book starts shortly after the onset of the Second World War, during the period now referred to as ‘the Phoney War’, when the British people were waiting for hostilities to begin. Stella is working for a unit making public information films. This is not rewarding work, but it keeps body and soul together. However, she soon finds herself drawn back into her clandestine intelligence work, being sent to support a highly secret operation in at a commandeered stately house in Hertfordshire.
As always with Jane Thynne’s books, the story is well plotted, and the characters highly plausible. I don’t know why Ms Thynne’s books aren’t better known.
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